Tech | Fox Frontend Rebuild
If you own a Fox Mustang, chances are that at some point, the frontend will need rebuilding. High mileage, hard driving, and simply plain-old age, cause the steering components to wear out, particularly the factory rubber bushings, the tie-rod ends, the sway-bar links, the steering rack, and the ball joints.
Take the case of our '86 GT. Having been in regular use for the last seven years under our stewardship, the car has seen many miles and a variety of road conditions, including many cratered and potholed streets that are characteristic of the Great Lakes region. Although these cars are known for their somewhat lifeless steering, as the years went by, the '86 developed a tendency to wander, especially over bumpy roads. Previous attempts to correct this problem resulted in new outer tie-rod ends, an alignment, followed by replacing the ball joints, and then another alignment. Now, while this improved the car's tracking, it didn't eliminate the problem, and the Mustang still felt sloppy, particularly through corners. While changing the oil one afternoon, yours truly decided to perform a frontend inspection. Visually, mangled factory sway-bar bushings and a small leak from the power-steering pump indicated that perhaps it was time to tackle the frontend once and for all.
Aiding us in our quest was Latemodel Restoration Supply. That gold mine of all things for '79-and-newer Mustangs came to the rescue with its '83-'93 steering rack kit (PN LRS-3504A-KIT). Included within this are a remanufactured 15:1 power-steering rack, brand-new sway bar links, brand-new outer tie-rod ends, brand-new polyurethane sway bar bushings, brand-new polyurethane upper strut bushings and bumpstops, and polyurethane non-offset steering-rack bushings. Because we're not intending to lower the ride height on our Mustang at any time in the future, we opted for the kit with non-offset rack bushings. However, for those who are lowering their '83-'93 Fox and want to eliminate bumpsteer, Latemodel Restoration Supply also offers a kit with offset rack bushings (PN LRS-3504B-KIT). In addition, before you order either one of these kits, the folks at LMRS recommend that you measure the diameter of your front sway bar so they can order the correct-size bar bushings. So, now that we've talked about fixing our steering problem, let's get to work.
Once at the shop, the car...
Once at the shop, the car was put on the hoist. It's a good idea to disconnect the negative battery cable before beginning the work.
Having inspected the frontend,...
Having inspected the frontend, we removed the stock rack bushings and K-member bolts. Once they were out of the way, we pulled the rack down, ready to disconnect the power-steering shaft and tie-rod ends.
First up was the return line....
First up was the return line. Fox Mustangs of this vintage feature two power-steering hoses-a high-pressure and return line that need to be disconnected. First, we disconnected the return line from the power-steering pump. It's a good idea to use a catch can or bucket, as power-steering fluid will ooze out the second you pull out the hose.
We disconnected the outer...
We disconnected the outer tie-rod ends from the spindles, beginning with the passenger side. Pull out the cotter pins, remove the castle nut, and then pull the tie rod down and out of the hole in the spindle. If it's stubborn, a few light blows with a ball-peen hammer should be enough to loosen it.
After pulling the outer tie-rod...
After pulling the outer tie-rod ends free from the spindles, it was time to tackle the high-pressure power-steering line where it attaches to the pump. Having been in place since February 1986, it took a few tries with the wrench to loosen the bolt that secures it to the rack, but after about five minutes of fiddling, we could loosen it and pull out the line.
We needed to disconnect the...
We needed to disconnect the steering-shaft end from the rack in order to remove the rack from the car. This requires a bit of dexterity and patience, as there isn't a lot of clearance. It's also a good idea to have an extra pair of hands assist you when doing this and, like we did, use a bungee cord to tie the rack to the K-member, so it doesn't suddenly drop while you're disconnecting the linkage. Once the shaft was out, we carefully removed the old rack and placed it on the workbench.
There were still a few things...
There were still a few things we needed to do, such as remove the old outer tie-rod ends so we could access the tie-rod jamb nuts. When doing this, you need to make a note of the number of turns it takes to remove each outer end, as it will save time adjusting the toe when it comes time to install the new rack and rod ends. We did this using a pair of crescent wrenches to twist the inner tie-rod ends until we could pull out the nuts. Because our kit didn't come with replacements, it was imperative that we reuse the old nuts so we could properly set toe when the time came.
One last thing to concern...
One last thing to concern ourselves with was removing the other end of the return line from the steering rack housing, as we will need to reuse it. Using an 11/16-inch wrench, we carefully twisted the nut in order to release the end of the line.
While everything's apart,...
While everything's apart, it's a good idea to clean up any parts that will be reused, including the return line. Here, using a wire wheel on a lathe, the old line is cleaned of any rust, grease, and dirt. After 22 years, there's quite a lot of surface corrosion on it.